For CA residents, is the cost premium worth it?
Captive audience, I suppose. And no doubt it’s beautiful, convenient and great weather. Boiled frogs. Well suited for rich or poor, but not so much middle or working class.
$5.50/gal gas
9.25% sales tax
13+% highest marginal income tax rates
Insane property taxes given housing prices
Not to mention ..
Anti-white UC and Cal State system
Overcrowding
Resource constraints
Traffic
Surveillance state
Increasingly poor schools
Replies to: For CA residents, is the cost premium worth it?
After moving to CA from the Northeast in '74, there have been many changes...
> The population has nearly doubled, making access to everything from jobs (commuting) to camp ground reservations significantly more challenging
> CA's GDP has risen from ~$180B to $3.4T (18x increase)
> Housing prices have skyrocketed (see GDP rise)...some homes near the neighborhood we moved into are going for $900K over asking price.
> Total Tax Burden is ~9.7%...but only 1.5% higher than Texas, and 0.4% higher than Iowa (see link below)
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494
IMO, and that of a few others, the availability of affordable housing is the key (do a board search for "Sam Liccardo" for the San Jose Mayor's take on all this)....also, check out the linked article.
There are solutions, but they aren't easy...on the positive side, it's still the most all around beautiful, welcoming and vibrant state in the Union, so there's that...definitely worth keeping.
Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/31/why-californias-population-boom-has-stalled/
Went to HS with Sam Liccardo (Bellarmine) and affordable housing is THE issue
Bay Area alone needs about 400k housing units. Locals are highly opposed. Not surprising.
IMO, Sam is a fantastic "Public Servant"...hope he continues to take on greater responsibilities...
also hope you were able to get to know your fellow "Bell".
PS - Bay Area in the 70s-90s was an amazing place to grow up.
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No question about it...
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There is so much more to CA than just the coastal cities.
I lived in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas for about ten years. (I worked in a suburb of Sacramento—Folsom, CA. Lived just a few miles east of where Ian Book attended high school.) It was relatively affordable.
I grew up in San Jose area and attended UC Davis
Of my friends, many have left the Bay Area and CA entirely. Some moved to the Folsom area and love it. Many have moved to Idaho, Utah and Colorado.
I was in the South Bay this past weekend and was reminded of the weather and natural beauty but the number of people abd cost of everything is shocking.
Had a chance to move back 3 years ago for a job at Apple and glad I didn’t.
and you're not a farmer?
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I tried but I kill everything I grow. So I became a lawyer.
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So same work?
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Brother and Sister in-laws are Davis "Aggies"...outstanding university that is getting more and more
competitive to attend...they loved it...served them well, as both have PhDs now.
It's poorly managed, crowded, expensive. It's a better place to visit than live, yet it's been grac
ed with some amazing topography and geological wonders. It's damn hot inland, but the first 10 miles east of the coastline are nice. Wine country is spectacular.
Yep too bad it’s wasted on its residents.
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The state of California is beautiful. Too bad people live there. Let’s evacuate the entire state.
Make it a national park. It will burn down or run out of water sooner than later.
I'm not sure evacuation is the answer.
Like NYC, wall it up and let nature do its thing. In 10 or 15 years or so the Normals can go in and reclaim the state.
I agree, move to Texas and Alaska.
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Having grown up there, CA is a great place to be from.
San Diego & La Jolla are lovely. The rest of the state is a nightmare. And the beautiful weather thing is a myth. CA has two climes.....hot and hotter. Crowded, crime ridden, traffic, landscape is brown and dying. Horrible place.
Good Mexican food. And I love me some In-N-Out burgers.
But they get to sit by the wildfires at night making s’mores talking about the good ole days.
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The fires did make for some amazing photography opportunities
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That's true. Good call.
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